The perfection and usefulness of language require not only that sounds signify ideas but that many particulars be comprehended under general terms; words become general or particular according as they are made to stand for general or particular ideas, and without general terms the multiplication of words for each particular thing would make language unmanageable.

By John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Key Arguments

  • Locke claims that signification of ideas alone is insufficient for 'the perfection of language': 'It is not enough for the perfection of language, that sounds can be made signs of ideas, unless those signs can be so made use of as to comprehend several particular things.'
  • He argues that having a distinct name for every individual would cripple language: 'for the multiplication of words would have perplexed their use, had every particular thing need of a distinct name to be signified by.'
  • He presents general terms as a 'remedy' and 'further improvement' of language: 'To remedy this inconvenience, language had yet a further improvement in the use of general terms, whereby one word was made to mark a multitude of particular existences.'
  • He explains that generality depends entirely on the kind of idea signified: 'which advantageous use of sounds was obtained only by the difference of the ideas they were made signs of: those names becoming general, which are made to stand for general ideas, and those remaining particular, where the ideas they are used for are particular.'

Source Quotes

But neither was this sufficient to make words so useful as they ought to be. It is not enough for the perfection of language, that sounds can be made signs of ideas, unless those signs can be so made use of as to comprehend several particular things: for the multiplication of words would have perplexed their use, had every particular thing need of a distinct name to be signified by. To remedy this inconvenience, language had yet a further improvement in the use of general terms, whereby one word was made to mark a multitude of particular existences: which advantageous use of sounds was obtained only by the difference of the ideas they were made signs of: those names becoming general, which are made to stand for general ideas, and those remaining particular, where the ideas they are used for are particular.
It is not enough for the perfection of language, that sounds can be made signs of ideas, unless those signs can be so made use of as to comprehend several particular things: for the multiplication of words would have perplexed their use, had every particular thing need of a distinct name to be signified by. To remedy this inconvenience, language had yet a further improvement in the use of general terms, whereby one word was made to mark a multitude of particular existences: which advantageous use of sounds was obtained only by the difference of the ideas they were made signs of: those names becoming general, which are made to stand for general ideas, and those remaining particular, where the ideas they are used for are particular. 4.

Key Concepts

  • It is not enough for the perfection of language, that sounds can be made signs of ideas, unless those signs can be so made use of as to comprehend several particular things:
  • for the multiplication of words would have perplexed their use, had every particular thing need of a distinct name to be signified by.
  • language had yet a further improvement in the use of general terms, whereby one word was made to mark a multitude of particular existences:
  • those names becoming general, which are made to stand for general ideas, and those remaining particular, where the ideas they are used for are particular.

Context

Book III, Chapter I, §3, where Locke introduces the central role of general terms and their dependence on general ideas for the efficiency of language.